The Everdeen Middle Child
by TishTash123
Summary: What would happen if Katniss had another sister?... And instead of Katniss... This other sister volunteers as tribute...
1. Chapter 1

15 year old Carlie raced through the forest, breathless. She was being chased by someone who was pretty scary to her, but she would never allow him to catch her. Who is this, you ask? Well, this is a peacekeeper, some of the most terrifying people around if you lived outside the districts, like Carlie. She had been asking one of the bakers in District 11 for some leftover bread, and they had been able to slip her some burnt bread before they rushed back to their work. This was pretty regular to happen, no one wanted to be caught giving food to the runaways that live outside the Districts, but they would nearly always support them at least. It takes guts to hunt outside of the Districts, more so to live out there and have to hunt for any type of meal. But she would never ask 1, 2, 3 or 4. They would never give her anything, and would most likely turn her in for the sake of some bread. Anyway, they hadn't been caught, but she had been. It was also 3 days before the 'Reaping's were set to take place, so the place was crawling with Peacekeepers. In the 6 years she had been living in the forest, she had had her fair shares of being seen, but they had never physically caught her. And they never would. Carlie was used to the forests, unlike the peacekeepers. She could run like the wind, climb trees and avoid trees and rocks if she was running. Not to mention she had been taught how to hunt before she had gotten lost.

Carlie was part of the Everdeen family, but one time when she was out learning to hunt with her older sister, Katniss, and her father, she had gotten lost. She had shouted and yelled, but to no avail. She had been taught, when you're lost, go to high ground and find a water source, which is exactly what she did. For the last 6 years, Carlie had taken care of herself against peacekeepers and animals alike. She was believed dead in District 12, and she had heard that her father had died. She had learnt to fend for herself, but she had always wanted to go back to District 12 to see her sisters and her mother. She had thought she seen Katniss out hunting a few times, but she could never be sure. Katniss was quick too, and she uses stealth to kill animals, so Carlie knew she couldn't shout if she ever saw Katniss. Apart from that, she never saw anyone from 12 again, because she knew they were poor enough, they couldn't give her anything.

Carlie had climbed to the top of a tree by now, while the peacekeeper was still on the ground, shouting for her to come down. She, of course, didn't and sat in the tree until he gave up. He did, and she was able to eat her bread, concealed in the leaves of the trees. Thinking of the sisters she may never see again, the mother whose voice she may never hear again, and the touch of all 3 she may never feel again. She fell asleep concealed in those same leaves, thinking about the life she wishes she had.

* * *

Carlie was awoken by the usual hustle and bustle of the animal world. All of the deer were out clambering around on the ground below, the hedgehogs snuffling around. The birds were cawing and cooing above and around her in their nests or flying around. The beautiful butterflies were fluttering around, their colours looking gorgeous in the light of the rising sun. The tiny tree insects were creeping around on the tree ba-

SNAP

This noise seemed to disrupt everything. The deer look up and creep away, the hedgehogs sneak back under the protection of their leaves, the tree insects crawl back into their safe homes in the tree bark. The snap, which was obviously a twig, seemed to have been manmade... Which means there's people down there. Company can be good or bad. It's good if its just someone who snuck from their District to find food for their family, which is highly unlikely since it's only a few days before the Reapings start, it'd be hard to get out, unless you're from 12. That fence is rarely on, and there's a hole in it big enough for someone to get through. It's bad if it's a peacekeeper. Only one way to find out... But a couple of voices stopped Carlie's thoughts of anything else.

"Gale! I almost had that deer!"

"Katniss, what could you do with a full grown deer?"

"I could sell it-"

But Carlie wasn't listening anymore. She was already scrambling out of the confinements of her tree-bed, and climbing down the tree as quick as she could. When she reached the bottom, her suspicions were confirmed. There, a few metres away... Was her older sister Katniss... Pointing her bow and arrow at Carlie. A look of realisation washes over Katniss' face, and suddenly she lowers her bow.

"Carlie?"

"Katniss..."

Katniss smiles, while Gale stands in the background, completely oblivious to the situation. He never knew of Carlie. Carlie and Katniss hug tightly. Neither of them thought this day would come... The day they were finally reunited.


	2. Chapter 2

After Carlie and Katniss' reunion, Gale started looking at Katniss like she was crazy. Well, to him she was. This girl was his best friend, he knew everything about her, yet he didn't know of Carlie.

"Katniss, why are you hugging a random girl in the middle of the forest?" he asked her, unsure.

"Gale this is my baby sister, Carlie. Carlie, this is my friend Gale." Katniss introduced.

"Katniss, are you sure? You two look nothing alike..."

"Gale, trust me. Meet my little sister, Carlie Rose Everdeen."

Gale and Carlie nod slightly at each other, before Katniss starts talking again, getting a little overexcited. She had just found her sister after 6 years of looking for her, she would obviously be pretty excited.

"Carlie, you need to come home with us! Mother and Prim would love to see you!"

"How old is Prim by now?" Carlie says, faintly remembering summers playing with her sisters and parents.

"She's 12. It's her first Reaping in a couple days. She's really worried."

"I would be too. And are you sure Mother and Prim haven't forgot about me?" Carlie asks. She was always closer to Katniss and her father than she was to Prim and her mother.

"They haven't, trust me. After you had gone, mother was very upset. She barely did anything for days, just stared into space. Then father died and she said that all she wanted if she couldn't have her husband was to have her second daughter home again." Katniss says, getting slightly choked up thinking about her deceased father.

"I guess I'll come see them then?" Carlie says, smiling uncertainly.

Katniss smiles, hugs her again then takes her hand, and pulls her the way her and Gale came. They seemed to have forgotten about Gale, so he says something to remind them he's there, and also to remind Katniss that they hadn't caught any game to sell at the Hob.

"Katniss, we haven't killed anything to trade."

"Oh yeah, I caught a few animals before we found Carlie. Squirrels etcetera. We have enough, Gale. You told me you killed a few animals too."

"Will it be enough? And where's all the animals you caught?"

"In the tree..." Katniss says vaguely, trailing off leaving Carlie confused, but she doesn't question her sister.

Gale shrugs, and they continue to walk. After a little while, they come to a tree which Gale and Katniss seem to have picked out in particular. It seems as if it's not of very much, but after Katniss moves a few leaves, Carlie suddenly realises why it's this tree. There's a little hole in it, where Katniss has moved the leaves. Katniss and Gale put their weapons in the hole, then Katniss moves a little more dirt and leaves, and they pull out a few dead animals. Ew. Katniss and Gale both seem fine with randomly pulling dead animals out of a tree. Katniss covers up the weapons with leaves again, and we turn around, heading in a particular direction, obviously. Well, for them. To Carlie this was a completely random place, but she trusts her older sister, even if she hadn't seen her for about 6 years. Finally, they come to a clearing, and a few metres ahead, Carlie sees the Dictrict 12 fence. There's only one thing running through her mind as they approach the hole in the fence.

Home...

**Sorry, not very long :/**


	3. Chapter 3

Carlie, Katniss and Gale walk towards the fence. Carlie can already see through the fence towards the other side, are all of the people living in the place she used to call her home, all of them just about making end's meet. And that's just from what she can see. She knows for a fact that hundreds of people live in there. They all look so... _unhappy_. Well, it could be work, age or the fact there's only 2 days until the Reapings. They always bring people down. Why did every District have to give up 2 of their young adults to be slaughtered in an arena? What did that accomplish? Everyone in the Capitol believes that it was because they didn't want another rebellion. The last rebellion, which is referred to as the 'Dark Days', was 74 years ago, and the result of this rebellion was the supposed obliteration of District 13. But Carlie knew the truth. She had been in the mood for walking one day a few months ago. She walked past District 12, and unknowingly walked to District 13. On top of the ground was ruined, obviously, but not smouldering anymore as the Capitol claimed. But, underground, there was a fully running district that was disconnected from Panem and the Capitol's control. They also invited her in for a night, but she obviously had to leave the next day. She was well fed that night anyway. But Carlie doesn't tell Katniss any of this information. Pretty irrelevant, right?

"You're pretty quiet Carlie." Katniss tells her, glancing over at her younger sister.

Carlie just shrugs as they approach the fence. The hole is pretty big, but there's a few branches covering it on the District side to try to conceal it. Peacekeepers looking for holes would've found it easily. District 12 peacekeepers must be pretty laidback. They get to the hole, and Katniss and Gale stop for a minute. They hold their ears up to the fence, and Carlie guesses what they're doing. Listening for the buzz that signals if the fence is on. Obviously not hearing anything, they crouch down to get through the hole. Gale goes through first, then Katniss. Carlie hangs back though.

"Carlie? Come on. Just crouch down and come through it." Katniss says reassuringly.

"Yeah, it's not that hard." Gale says.

She crouches down, and tries to slip through the hole. She fails though, and her jacket that she was given by a very generous person a couple years ago gets caught on the wire. She starts panicking, but Katniss just unhooks her hood which was caught, and she comes rolling out of the hole, which is set on top of a small hill. She squeals as she rolls down the hill. She gets up, and dusts herself off.

"You okay, Carlie?" Katniss asks, while Gale chuckles.

"I'm fine." Carlie says, embarrassed and blushing a little.

"Let's head home then, shall we?" Katniss smiles as Carlie nods.

"Wait, am I going to the Hob by myself?" Gale asks.

"Yep. It won't take long you know, Gale." Katniss tells him, and grabs Carlie's arm, dragging her gently in the direction of the Seam, where Katniss has called her home since she was born. "Let's go see mother and Prim, shall we?" She says to Carlie, smiling.

"Yeah, can't wait." Carlie says, smiling back.

Truth was, Carlie was terrified. She always wanted to go back to her home, of course she did. But now she was in District 12. She was heading home, the place she hadn't seen for 6 years. She was also scared her family would reject her. That they'd already moved on, or forgotten about her. Even if Katniss hadn't, Prim hadn't seen Carlie since she was 6, a very young age. Plus, Carlie was closer to her older sister than her younger one. Katniss brings her out of her thoughts though as they are close to a small, rundown hut known as the Everdeen home

"We're here, sis. Welcome home."


	4. Chapter 4

They headed into the Everdeen household, Carlie's heart beating a mile a minute. This is it. The time she had been waiting for for 6 years. Finally she would be able to see her family again. The door from outside takes them immediately into a small room with a fireplace and a couple well-worn chairs. On one of the chairs is a middle-aged woman with blonde hair and dull blue eyes. As soon as she locks eyes with her, both of them immediately recognise each other. Carlie's mother. On the other chair is a younger girl, again with blonde hair which is in two braids at either sides of her head, and brown eyes. When she locks eyes with Carlie, confusion settles in her face, and recognition settles in Carlie's. This is her baby sister. Primrose Everdeen. Who doesn't remember her. Mrs. Everdeen looks at Carlie in disbelief.

"Carlie? Is that you?" She says, her words only just audible.

"Yes, mother. It's me." Carlie replies, a small smile taking over her face. Her mother smiles, the biggest she's smiled in a long time, and runs forward to wrap her middle child in the tightest hug she has given since her husband's death. Prim's face still shows confusion, though.

"Katniss, who's this?" She asks her older sister.

"Prim, this is your older sister." Katniss replies.

"Where has she been?"

"In the woods. She got lost one time her and me went hunting with father. Gale and me only just found her in the woods."

"How old is she?"

"She's 15, Prim. She got lost 6 years ago, when you were 6, she was 9 and I was 10. Don't you remember her at all?" Katniss asks her little sister, while Carlie and their mother are still hugging tightly.

Realisation suddenly settles on Prim's face as a picture of a young girl with brown hair in a single braid, olive skin and grey eyes, very similar looking to her eldest sister, settles in her mind. In Prim's mind, the girl looks around 9. Prim then looks at Carlie. She then realises the similarities between Carlie and the image in her mind. This is the last memory Prim has of Carlie.

Carlie and their mother finally break apart, just as Prim runs forward and wraps her sister in another tight hug.

"I missed you all." Carlie smiles over her sister's head as, even if she's short for her age, she's still taller than Prim.

"We missed you too, Carlie." Katniss says as her and their mother walk over to Carlie and Prim, hugging both of them. The 4 females hug each other tightly, happy that, even if their father/husband isn't there, they finally have each other again.


	5. Chapter 5

The past couple days have gone by slowly for the Everdeen girls, but finally it's the day of the Reaping. The last few days have been spent catching up on what Carlie had missed in the comfort of their small house in front of the fire. The heat, one of the many, many things Carlie had missed about her house. They all talked about things like their father's death, their mother's depression, the baker boy who gave Katniss the bread when they hadn't been able to get any food, things like that.

The day of the Reaping Katniss and Carlie both head out to meet up with Gale and hunt. They decided that Carlie should collect fruit, and Gale and Katniss should hunt. They told Carlie to go back to the tree they stash their weapons at when she's finished to meet them, and then the 3 of them will relax. Carlie obeys this, and goes around looking for fruit. She finds berries, lots of them, and she can tell what ones are poisonous and what ones aren't, her father taught her before she got lost. When she thinks she has collected enough she heads back to the tree, to find Katniss and Gale already there. She gives them the berries, and Gale double-checks them before he puts them in his pocket and they all walk to a hill. They sit down on the soft grass, and Carlie just sits and eats some bread Gale brought while Gale and Katniss talk. One topic catches her attention though.

"We could do it, y'know." Gale says, eating his slice of bread.

"Do what?" Katniss questions.

"Take off, live in the woods."

"No we wouldn't they'd catch us."

"They wouldn't catch me, I'd head that way." Gale points towards a cluster of trees, the heart of the woods.

"And your sisters? And Carlie and Prim? And our parents?"

"Bring them with us."

Katniss cocks an eyebrow at this, and Gale rethinks what he said. "We wouldn't last. Not all of us." Katniss voices their thoughts. Gale shurgs his shoulders before they move onto something else. Carlie is still thinking about that, though. Surely, she lasted didn't she? She lasted, alone in the woods, at the age of 9-15. Katniss and Gale bring her out of her thoughts as they stand and start walking back to the hole in the fence. They go through the same procedure they did the day they found Carlie, and then the 3 go their different ways. Gale to his home, Katniss and Carlie to the Everdeen home to prepare for the Reapings.


	6. Chapter 6

Carlie, Katniss and Prim walk together to the area that has been set up for the Reaping. Their skin is scrubbed clean, and reddened, their hair in braids. Katniss' is in her regular braid down the side, Prim's is just straight down her back and Carlie's is like Katniss'; down the side of her head. Carlie's dress is pale blue, while Prim's is white and Katniss' is a sky blue. They walk side by side, all three of their faces not giving anything away. No emotion at all. But you can just tell.

Prim is terrified. It's her first year, and her name is only in the bowl once, but she's terrified all the same. Katniss doesn't really know what to feel. The excitement of Carlie's return has dulled down already. Her own name is in that bowl 20 times. Carlie doesn't know how this is going to work, since she hasn't been there for the past Reapings she was supposed to attend. It changed from being lost to just being scared of going home and getting rejected, or having been forgotten. She knows she has to attend the Reapings now that she's home again, and hopefully they wont ask why she hasn't been there before. They quickly get to the table where the women are waiting to draw blood from their fingers, and Prim starts hyperventilating. It doesn't really bother Katniss and Carlie though; Katniss has had this done before, and Carlie would always get cuts and bruises and broken bones whilst living in the woods. The two older siblings stop to comfort the youngest. They both attempt at calming Prim down, and only just do so.

"Prim, Prim its okay. They just wanna draw a little blood from your finger, it's only gonna sting a little." Katniss says to Prim quietly, soothing her. The two oldest sisters pull themselves and their younger sister into a group hug. The three of them stand like that for a few seconds before pulling away again, and by now Prim has calmed slightly. They walk to the queue where all the people are standing to get their blood taken. The three quickly get to the front and, one by one, get their blood taken and stamped. They don't mention anything to Carlie about not having been there before, relieving her of her nerves slightly. They get taken to their separate groups, separated by age. Katniss is closer to the front, then Carlie, then Prim away at the back. Oh, and Gale is directly across from Katniss.

A few minutes later, after everyone is in their designated areas, Effie Trinket comes onto the stage. She starts her speech, and soon the presentation of the 'Dark Days' comes on. The Dark Days were the days that started this Hunger Games rubbish, the days when the Districts rebelled against the Capitol. They almost overruled them, too, but they didn't. They lost. They lost the war, and they lost District 13. The Capitol supposedly obliterated them, but as mentioned before, Carlie knows the truth. This is old footage that's being shown. The real and very alive District 13 is a few miles away, underground and fully functioning. Just cut off from Panem, which also makes them self-sufficient.

The presentation ends, and Effie steps forward again in her pink outfit to select the names.

"As always, ladies first."

She announces, stepping closer to the dome filled with the names of every single female teen in 12. She reaches in and moves her hand around for a little, then finds the one she wants. She steps up to the podium again, unwraps the small piece of paper, then announces the name that makes the three sisters gasp, and one in particular absolutely terrified.

_"Primrose Everdeen."_

_"I-I volunteer! I volunteer as tribute!"_


End file.
